Many of us love to travel, whether it's to visit an exotic and foreign land, or to take a summer vacation at the beach, or to visit family out of town during the holidays. A change of scenery, new experiences, friends and family - it's always great to get away. (And then it's always good to return home!)

However, if you have a health challenge like a chronic illness, a lousy cold, a bad knee, a broken arm or you're undergoing treatment to help alleviate symptoms, your health challenge can become a travel challenge, too.

The reason travel can become challenging to our health and medical needs is because it takes us out of our routine and out of our normal environment. Our schedules change, we stay and sleep in a different location, the water is different, the food may be different, we may not be in control of our schedules - everything in our routine changes. So many changes can become stressful to our bodies, and can cause our "normal" to shift. Depending on what our health challenges are, they may be difficult to manage.

By recognizing ahead of time the differences between home routine and travel reality, we can plan to alleviate many of the problems that may negatively affect our health. In effect, we'll be managing our own expectations, reducing the stress the travel may cause.

Here are some tips for coordinating your health needs with your travel plans. They'll help you make sure that your travel doesn't create problems for your health, and that your health doesn't create problems for your travel.

This list is not intended to be comprehensive. Your travel-health needs will be as varied as the illnesses or conditions you might be diagnosed with. This list should spur your own planning and coping to be sure your travel is as enjoyable and challenge-free as possible.

• Before You Go
  
  
• As You Travel
  
  
• At Your Destination
  
  
• International Travel Considerations